WASHINGTON: Nearly three fourths of American manufacturing firms and half of services companies expect the tariffs imposed by the US and China will prompt them to increase prices, and a large share expect supply disruptions, according to a survey released Monday. And many executives in recent corporate earnings reports also reported seeing rising costs, and were planning to increase prices to consumers. Meanwhile, close to 60 percent of firms in both sectors expect “delays and disruptions” in their supply chain because of the tariffs. Manufacturing firms already have seen increases of 4.8 percent in their input costs through the end of April, while services firms have seen an increase of 1.3 percent. ISM reported that about half of those manufacturers had raised wages to attract workers, compared to just a third of services firms.

Source: Manila Times May 08, 2018 16:18 UTC